The present invention relates to an electrical connector junction means, and more particularly to electrical connector junction means for use with flat conductor cables lying along a floor.
Flat conductor cable was developed to replace present electrical systems or installations utilizing conduits buried in the floor or above the ceiling. The flat cables are intended to be placed flush to the floor surface with the necessary branch circuits leading to the desired locations, and with carpeting then placed over the cable to provide a surface suitable for interior use and for personnel traffic. With such a system, it is necessary to provide for an electrical connection junction means secured to the floor at various locations and within which electrical connection of the flat conductors is made with other more conventional conductors which are connected in a conventional manner to telephones and/or other electrical equipment.
In the prior art, flat conductor cables have been used for telecommunications equipment in which it has been generally necessary to use conventional coupling devices for terminating the flat conductor cable and which are adapted to mate with other suitable coupling devices secured to other conductors, such as for example conventional round wire conductors. The second conventional round wire conductors are then connected to the telephones and/or other equipment. Examples of such prior art electrical connector junction devices are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,934,072 entitled "Apparatus and Method for Terminating Lines Running Under Flexible Floor Covering" and U.S. Pat. No. 4,030,801 entitled "Electrical Connector Junction For Carpeted Floor". Each of these patents discloses systems of mounting and housing standard telecommunication connector systems attached to a flat conductor cable and connected to more conventional round wire conductors. However, these junction devices have not provided means for accommodating vertically applied loads, such as for example from a person standing on the installed bracket and housing. After installation of the mounting bracket and housing to the floor and installation of the coupling devices or connectors to the bracket, a vertically applied force could be transferred to the connectors by the bracket ends which may bend in towards the center of the bracket as the load is increased. Such a force may be of a magnitude sufficient to cause mechanical failure of the connectors. Additionally, such prior art arrangements also usually require that a temporary cover be placed over the mounting bracket prior to carpet installation in order to provide mechanical protection for the flat conductor cable and the connectors during cutting of the carpet placed over the cable and connectors to expose the bracket/connectors for final termination.